Super Hype Sunday

Very little news about the Tribe today in the fishwraps, which probably has something to do with some other game happening today in the sports world.

Not much in the increasingly irrelevant PD sports page (which was breezed through in about 10 minutes this morning, and I was looking for something to read to an interested 6-week old…I mean, how is Branson Wright employed by a major newspaper) other than a piece on Victor, who admitted that he played hurt last year. Anybody who saw Victor lumber down the line last year could have told you that.

Also, Paul Hoynes defends himself for picking the Indians to finish 4th in the Central last week. Think Hoynesie is feeling a little burned by picking the Indians to finish so high last year?
Even if he was burned in his predictions by an underachieving team last year, 4th?
Behind the Twins and their 2-man rotation? Really?

He’s going to have to stop hanging out with Livy and Shaw; their cynicism is obviously contagious.
Would anyone be surprised if the out-of-touch and persistently negative Livingston picked the Royals to finish ahead of the Tribe this year and somehow incorporated a rip job on Larry Hughes into the prediction?

Andy Call quotes Shapiro on the final couple of spots in the bullpen, along with a look at Josh Barfield. Interestingly, yesterday on WKNR with Tony Rizzo, Tribe VP Bob DiBiasio stated, very matter-of-fact, that the Indians final 2 spots in the bullpen would go to Cabrera and Davis. No surprise there, only that the VP of Public Relations would come out and say such a thing before Spring Training even started.

With only hype on TV today and the wind chill hitting the double digits under 0, it wasn’t a great week for the DVR to go on the fritz (Time Warner’s response, “Sorry about that, we’ll bring another box by when we can…and you’ll lose anything on your current box”. Lovely). Thank goodness for HBO running the “Star Wars” movies constantly so I don’t have to watch an interview with Peyton Manning’s 3rd Grade Teacher.

On this week leading up to the Super Bowl, how apparent has it become that the Worldwide Leader (or as I heard someone call it, “nothing but another four-letter word”) has become increasingly out-of-touch with their core fan base, both in terms of programming and website content?

If you want nightly highlights, don’t check out “SportsCenter”. All you’ll get is a steady dose of banter between Kilborn-wannabes and 5 ex-players walking around a fake football field “breaking it down” for 10 minutes.

Who cares? Who wants to see Michael Irvin or Steve Young endlessly preen and carry on with little to no insight or knowledge in lieu of seeing actual analysis and game highlights?
And don’t get me started on Stuart Scott.

Want an alternative? Check out Fox Sports’ “FSN Final Score”, which focuses on highlights and results…what a novel concept.

And the Worldwide Website has become less and less of a frequent target as the only thing worth reading has become The Sports Guy’s column. SI.com’s content and access to good writers has eclipsed ESPN.com’s coverage and FoxSports.com has a vast advantage with Ken Rosenthal in terms of insider information…for free.

Don’t get me wrong, ESPN is still in heavy rotation for sports coverage, but this week leading up to the Super Bowl has illustrated how much ESPN has changed in the past 5 years…and not for the better.

My friend Berger, in Vegas for the Super Bowl, put down a double sawbuck on the Tribe to win the WS at 30 to 1 this morning for me.
The winnings are already spent.

If you need something to warm you on this cold Sunday, here’s a video to remind you that we’re getting close.